Appendix J 

Analysis of Emissions from the Tampa 

Electric Big Bend and Gulf Power Crist 

Power Plants 

 

Appendix J 

Regional Haze SIP for Florida

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Purpose 

The purpose of this appendix is to address a specific question that the U.S. EPA, 

Region 4 reviewers had regarding the actual emissions changes occurring at the Tampa 

Electric Company’s (TECO) Big Bend facility with regard to its consent decree. 

Similarly, the same question is asked of the Gulf Power Crist plant and their voluntary 

emissions reductions. Both the consent decree and the voluntary agreement were 

considered in the 2018 projections for assessing future visibility. 

The consent decree for TECO Big Bend essentially requires that all four units at this 

facility are scrubbed for SO2 reduction and have selective catalytic reduction (SCR) for 

NOx reduction. All of these controls have been installed except for the final SCR on unit 

1. The following tables show the actual emissions of SO2 and NOx from all four Big 

Bend unit from 1998 to 2008. 

TECO Big Bend - SO2 (tons per year)

Year Unit 1 Unit 2 Unit 3 Unit 4 Total

1998 46622 44168 12173 4371 107,334

1999 39454 41158 10798 4112 95,522

2000 24546 6782 12808 3962 48,098

2001 2,372 2,700 3,955 4,413 13,439

2002 2,789 2,021 2,621 4,170 11,601

2003 3,193 3,068 3,091 3,834 13,186

2004 2,803 2,937 2,697 3,477 11,913

2005 2,717 2,784 2,355 3,511 11,368

2006 2,225 3,222 3,658 4,872 13,977

2007 2,842 2,874 1,882 2,305 9,903

2008 2,062 1,951 1,080 4,521 9,615

TECO Big Bend - NOx (tons per year)

Year Unit 1 Unit 2 Unit 3 Unit 4 Total

1998 11314 10934 7003 6826 36,077

1999 8768 8969 5950 6543 30,230

2000 9019 10243 7238 7674 34,174

2001 4,723 6,123 6,050 7,532 24,428

2002 9,142 6,625 5,929 7,116 28,813

2003 8,824 8,480 6,820 5,340 29,464

2004 8,666 9,082 6,506 3,516 27,769

2005 7,122 7,297 5,232 3,081 22,733

2006 7,616 11,028 6,339 4,800 29,783

2007 9,831 9,941 3,607 1,183 24,561

2008 7,845 7,421 849 1,083 17,198

Appendix J 

Regional Haze SIP for Florida

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 The emissions of SO2 and NOx used in the SIP modeling for the base year 2002 and 

the projected year 2018 are shown below. 

TECO Big Bend - SO2 (tpy)

Unit 2002 2018

Unit 1 2,789 3,919

Unit 2 2,021 3,780

Unit 3 2,621 4,875

Unit 4 4,170 4,923

Total 11,601 17,496

TECO Big Bend - NOx (tpy)

Unit 2002 2018

Unit 1 9,142 941

Unit 2 6,625 937

Unit 3 5,929 944

Unit 4 7,116 953

Total 28,813 3,774

Current (2008) emissions of SO2 at the Big Bend facility are well below (nearly half) the 

projected 2018 emissions used in the modeling. The SIP modeling assumed that 

emissions would grow from the base year to reflect the generation need as population 

grows. Actual growth is currently much less than assumed in the SIP modeling, and 

generation growth, to the extent it’s needed, is likely to come from newer, cleaner 

natural gas fired units elsewhere in the state. The result is that the SIP modeling for 

2018 probably over-estimates visibility impacts. 

Current (2008) NOx emissions at the Big Bend facility are still greater than emissions 

projected for the 2018 SIP modeling. However, the schedule for installation of the SCR 

units has these units coming on in 2007, 2008, 2009, and 2010 for units 4, 3, 2, and 1, 

respectively. Thus, the 2008 emissions reflect the full use of only one SCR. As these 

SCR units come on-line, NOx emissions are expected to reduce in-line with the 2018 

SIP projections. 

The voluntary NOx reductions at the Gulf Power Crist facility involved the installation of 

an SCR unit on unit 7 and an SNCR unit on unit 6. The actual NOx and SO2 emissions 

at the Crist facility are seen below. 

Appendix J 

Regional Haze SIP for Florida

Page 3 of 5
Gulf Power Crist - NOx (tons per year)

Year Unit 4 Unit 5 Unit 6 Unit 7 Total

1998 825 1,370 4,364 7,557 14,116

1999 893 782 4,715 8,308 14,697

2000 860 1,146 3,986 6,915 12,907

2001 830 748 3,906 4,971 10,455

2002 840 854 3,518 6,355 11,567

2003 1,073 1,088 4,965 7,873 14,999

2004 1,122 1,106 4,382 4,563 11,173

2005 1,084 991 4,286 1,032 7,393

2006 996 925 2,871 1,619 6,411

2007 1,021 920 2,620 1,394 5,956

2008 677 826 1,823 1,344 4,669

Gulf Power Crist - SO2 (tons per year)

Year Unit 4 Unit 5 Unit 6 Unit 7 Total

1998 2,940 3,684 14,342 23,667 44,634

1999 2,918 2,227 13,102 22,829 41,075

2000 3,547 4,839 14,135 24,470 46,991

2001 3,454 3,247 13,020 17,462 37,183

2002 3,691 3,576 11,085 20,600 38,953

2003 2,986 2,961 11,467 17,447 34,862

2004 3,554 3,647 10,399 15,089 32,688

2005 3,130 2,941 10,744 11,416 28,231

2006 3,066 2,968 9,612 17,847 33,493

2007 3,553 3,449 12,768 19,737 39,507

2008 2,472 3,047 10,023 21,091 36,633

The emissions of NOx and SO2 used in the SIP modeling for the base year 2002 and 

the projected year 2018 are shown in the tables below. 

Gulf Power Crist - NOx (tpy)

Unit 2002 2018

Unit 4 840 729

Unit 5 854 1,106

Unit 6 3,793 6,024

Unit 7 8,164 1,116

Total 13,650 8,975

Appendix J 

Regional Haze SIP for Florida

Page 4 of 5
Gulf Power Crist - SO2 (tpy)

Unit 2002 2018

Unit 4 3,691 304

Unit 5 3,576 277

Unit 6 11,236 1,242

Unit 7 24,184 4,648

Total 42,687 6,470

Current (2008) emissions of NOx are much less (nearly half) the projected 2018 

emissions. In addition, the SIP projections for 2018 assumed no NOx controls on units 

4 and 5, SNCR on unit 6 and SCR on unit 7. The actual configuration now is for SNCR 

on units 4 and 5, and SCR on both 6 and 7. As a result, the SIP modeling is overestimating the impacts on visibility from NOx emissions at Crist. 

Current (2008) emissions of SO2 are much greater than the projected 2018 emissions 

used in the SIP modeling. However, a scrubber servicing all four units will be on-line by 

the end of 2009. This will make the SO2 emissions in-line with the 2018 projections 

used in the SIP modeling. 

Appendix J 

Regional Haze SIP for Florida

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